Every fall all the water has to be removed from the irrigation system to prevent ice formation, which will eventually lead to broken pipes. As water freezes it expands and ice is much stronger than plastic pipe. The first step in the process is to shut down the pump station, open all drain valves, and let gravity remove most of the water. Once the water has drained out a large compressor is connected to the irrigation system and air is forced through the lines at a high volume, but low pressure. Too much air pressure can damage pipe the same way high water pressure does. The staff will then go to each control satellite (those gray and green boxes scattered throughout the course) and systematically turn on almost 1,000 irrigation heads to blow out any remainining water. After all the heads have been blown out one time we will go back to the areas that tend to hold water and run through those heads for a second time.
In addition to the irrigation system on the golf course, the maintenance staff is responsible for winterizing the two restroom facilities on the course, miscellaneous landscape irrigation, and water lines in the driving range building and cart storage building.
 |
| Air compressor connected to the irrigation system |
 |
| Using compressed air to remove water from an irrigation head |
No comments:
Post a Comment